Strength Measures Heart
by LoveAi
Summary: Ash and Gary have families of their own, and both have teenagers. See what happens when Ash and Misty's daughter drags Gary's son on an adventure with her across the Pokemon nation, unknowing of the young Oak's affections for her.


The mirror had showed a perfectly beautiful girl, one who had the whole world ahead of her, who looked like she'd have had her Pokémon for at least three years, if not more. Dark brown ponytail that reached her shoulder blades; long legs; huge, dark eyes; punk-looking dress with a torn-up and fitted denim bodice with spaces for PokeBalls atop a micromini purple princess skirt; midnight-black super-skinny jeans; black over-the-knee combat boots; the look was perfect. The only thing wrong with the look was that it was on me. I sighed, looking over my adventure-starting outfit with dismay. If Kinji Oak, my best friend, were here, he'd be chastising me for being so down about it. He probably would chastise me for it later, knowing him. Ah, well.

Downstairs in the kitchen, I sighed, tossing my dark brown ponytail back over my shoulder as my mother argued why I shouldn't go and become a Pokémon Trainer, even though both she and Dad had gone through adventures, and she herself had been a Gym Leader in her time.

"Mom, really, I know you're worried I'll get hurt, but I'll be fine," I said, groaning inwardly. "You and Dad had your adventures, and now I want mine!"

"She has a point," Dad said – my dad, the legendary Pokémon Master, Ash Ketchum. "We should let her go."

"Fine, but I'm not to blame if all goes horribly wrong," Mom sighed, running a hand through her orange hair. Yup, you guessed it, Misty of the Cerulean City Gym. It really was a miracle that she didn't want me to go on this adventure.

"Thanks, Mom!" I gushed, hugging her tightly. "You won't regret this, I promise!" I had to force myself not to laugh as she groaned.

"I always regret it when you say that," she complained. "Leave before I change my mind." I grinned, shouldered my handmade, patchwork denim messenger bag, and bolted from the house like there was a herd of pissed-off Rattata at my heels. I think I heard Mom break down into sobs as I closed the door, but I couldn't be sure.

I stopped running in front of Professor Gary Oak's lab. He'd taken over for his grandfather when the elder Oak had died, assuming the role with the utmost grace. I stared up at the building in all its magnificence, and had been staring for a couple minutes when Professor Oak's son, Kinji, came outside and nearly knocked me over.

"Oh, sorry, Akai," Kinji apologized, steadying me with a hand on my shoulder. "I didn't mean to do that…my dad was just looking for you. He said something about you wanting to start an adventure…" I nodded, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, I wanted to go traveling, and Mom finally agreed just now," I said, a little short of breath, seeing as how I'd recently sprinted over.

"It's a wonder your mom didn't agree from the start," Kinji joked, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm her baby girl, she wants to keep me safe," I retorted. "Let's go inside, I want to meet my first Pokémon!" Kinji laughed and opened the door, motioning for me to go in first.

"Your mom can rest easy knowing that I'm going with you," he said as the door swung closed behind us. I rolled my eyes.

"OK, now I see why Mom was so worried," I said, giggling.

"Glad to finally see you here, Akai," Professor Oak said, smiling. He really was a lot nicer than he had been when he and my dad were kids. "Come over here, the Pokémon available to you as starters are right over this way. Kinji, make sure she doesn't fall, will you?"

"I'm not that clumsy, Professor Oak," I mumbled, silently thankful for my friend's steady hand at my elbow, because without it, I'd have done a faceplant thanks to all the boxes and wires and such on the floor.

"Sure you're not, Akai, sure you're not," Kinji appeased, though his sarcasm was hardly disguised. He grinned as I glared at him, obviously trying not to say the "I told you so" that was on the tip of his tongue, ready to mock me. When we reached our destination, I grinned – not only were there the regular starter Pokémon from all the regions, but there were also several Electric-types as well, from the various regions, of course. Pikachu, Shinx, Pachirisu, Mareep, Electrike…I knew I wanted to pick one of them, but which one to pick? I drifted over to them, my hand drifting over each one in turn once, twice, a third time, before I closed my eyes and let my hand drift to the one I wanted to take. When I opened my eyes, I was holding Shinx's PokeBall in my hand, cradling it like it was my very own newborn child.

"You are so much like your dad," Professor Oak said, chuckling. Seeing my very own opportunity for a joke, I rounded playfully on Kinji.

"And so are you, Kinji, you look just like a younger version of your dad, only with not-so-great hair and green eyes," I teased, poking him in the chest.

"Not funny, Akai," Kinji said, poking my temple, and I sighed. Given, it wasn't a very good joke, but still, I'd tried, right? Ah, well.

"Fine, fine, fine," I muttered, hip-checking my friend lightly like I always did. "You win this time, Kinji, but mark my words, I'll win in the end."

"Sure you will, Akai," Kinji said, voice snide and sarcastic. I could tell he was rolling his eyes without even looking at him.

"You know it's true, Kinji," I said. "You're going to help me become a good Trainer, right?" Kinji laughed.

"Of course I am, Akai," Kinji said, still laughing. "I promised you that when I got my first Pokémon, remember?" I giggled.

"Thanks, Kinji," I said. "Come on, we'd better get going before my mom hunts us down and drags me home." Kinji sighed, and I turned to his dad. "Professor Oak, thanks so much for letting Kinji come with me. I really appreciate it." Professor Oak just nodded, and I grabbed my friend by the wrist and bolted from the lab, just in case his dad changed his mind.

"Someone's jumpy," Kinji teased. I pouted.

"I just really want to go on this journey, is all," I retorted. "It took forever for my mom to agree, I'm not letting this opportunity go to waste!" I came to a halt just outside of the lab, whirling around to face Kinji. "You know how long I had to beg my mom to let me do this; I'm not letting all that go to waste!" To my vast displeasure, Kinji just laughed.

"Akai, you worry too much," he said. "Your mom's not going to change her mind."

"You don't know my mom like I do," I said, turning on my heel and marching off, fully intent on getting to Viridian City by nightfall.

"I'm not going to convince you at all, am I?" Kinji asked, sighing. "Your. Mother. Is. Not. Going. To. Change. Her. Mind." He followed me, though, which I suppose should be counted as a good thing. As we walked in silence towards Viridian City, Kinji started doing something a little odd – he purposely walked too close to me so that our hands would bump together, and then he'd blush and edge away, then do it all over again. I guess I shouldn't have been confused, but I was, a little bit. We'd gotten about halfway to Viridian when my stomach rumbled.

"Oops, I guess I'm hungry," I mumbled, blushing a little. "Should we stop for lunch or what?"

"Well, we packed some food, so stopping for lunch couldn't hurt," Kinji replied, shrugging as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "It shouldn't take us too much longer to get to Viridian, and besides, the Pokémon Centers are always open 24 hours a day." I nodded, rummaging through my bag and pulling out some of the food I'd packed as we veered to a small patch of grass near the road to set up our little picnic. Kinji spread out a blanket he'd had in his knapsack, and I sat down on it, spreading out the food I had pulled out. He sifted through what I'd laid out – some potato bread, some cheese, a couple of apples, and some crackers. "Hm…we can make a cheese sandwich for each of us, and each have an apple and a couple crackers."

"That works," I said, nodding, and we both took two slices of the potato bread and some of the cheese, putting our simple sandwiches together and starting to munch on them. I took the smaller of the two apples, though Kinji had (noticeably) nudged the larger one towards me. I took a bite of the little apple – they were both little, to be honest – and stared up at the sky, taking out Shinx's PokeBall and letting the little Electric type out. I looked over at my bag as I nudged it open and pulled out the can of Pokémon food, pouring a little onto the blanket. Shinx sniffed at it, then started to eat it, one pellet at a time. Kinji, seeing me feeding my Pokémon, took a PokeBall from his belt and let out what turned out to be the most adorable Eevee in the world. Just before I could start squealing, Kinji spoke.

"Dad gave the little guy to me yesterday, saying that if you were starting from scratch, then I had to, too," he said. "I still have my Pokémon from my adventure at Dad's lab, but he said I can only come get them once you've gotten tough enough. Something about us being on an even playing field…"

"We're not rivals, though," I said around a bite of cheese sandwich. "We're best friends." Kinji nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I said," he agreed, taking a bite of his own sandwich, chewing and swallowing before speaking again. "He said that he'd rather we be on the same level." I rolled my eyes, taking a huge bite of my sandwich and adding onto that a bite of my apple. Just as I was swallowing that too-large mouthful, I felt a cold stare on my back and noticed Kinji look up behind me and almost immediately look back down. I put my sandwich down and turned around to see who had to be just about the scariest-looking pretty girl in the history of scary-but-pretty girls.

"Can I help you, Wicked Witch of the West?" I sneered, knowing she was mean just by the look on her face.

"Yeah – you can vacate the area," she snapped. "Your ugly mug is ruining the view."

"Funny," I said, mock-laughing, "I was planning on saying that to you, only in nicer terms." Kinji groaned, nudging my ankle with his foot.

"Don't start, Akai, you don't even know her," he muttered, tone pleading, but I couldn't help myself – she'd been glaring at me, for goodness' sake.

"So, if you wouldn't mind continuing on your way, my eyes would appreciate not having to look at you anymore," I said, my smile poisonously sweet. The girl sneered back at me.

"I wouldn't be talking if I were you," the girl said, tossing her long black hair. "I just got a Pokémon. Mine's more than a match for yours, girlie."

"Oh yeah?" I said, smirking. "What'd you get?"

"Battle me and see," the girl replied, smirking as if she'd already won.

"I'll do more than battle you, Wicked Witch," I said, starting to stand. "I'll wipe that stupid smirk off your stupid mug!" Kinji groaned.

"Akai, don't – just sit down and finish your lunch and we can go peacefully on our way to Viridian," he begged. "You can have your first battle somewhere else – against my Eevee." I shook my head, and Kinji groaned again.

"Can't do that, Kinji, a challenge is a challenge," I said, standing and dusting my hands off. "I win, you leave. You win, me and Kinji leave. Alright?"

"Works for me," the girl said, smirking deeper and taking a PokeBall out of her pocket. "I'm Minami, by the way."

"The name's Akai. Akai Ketchum," I said, motioning Shinx forward. "And my friend's Kinji Oak."

"So, I get to battle with the daughter of the famous Pokémon Master, eh?" Minami said. "Won't that be fun when I win!"

"You're not gonna win," I said as she moved back across the road, to give our Pokémon room. "That honor will fall to me."

"We'll see about that," Minami retorted, tossing her PokeBall up in the air. "Go! Pachirisu!" I snorted a little.

"You think you can win without a type advantage and no experience with Pokémon?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"You've got no experience, either," Minami said, trying to point out something that was "obvious".

"Oh, don't I? Are you forgetting who my dad is? He wouldn't have let me go this long without seeing plenty of Pokémon battles," I pointed out. "I know all the strategies."

"Just because you know the strategies doesn't mean you'll win," Minami said, and I shrugged.

"Your move first," I said, smirking and sticking my hands in my pockets. This, finally, seemed to catch Minami off guard, for she jumped a little, her eyes wide and her mouth clamped shut. After a moment, though, she seemed to regain her bearings.

"Alright, then. Pachirisu, use Tackle!" she called. I waited till the Pachirisu was close enough to feel the static coming off its fur.

"Shinx, jump up into the air and use Tackle when you land," I said calmly. Shinx, startled by the late command, jumped as high as she could, ready to start her Tackle attack as soon as she landed, taking the Pachirisu and Minami by surprise. I was a little surprised at the power behind her Tackle, because when she hit, Pachirisu went flying. Minami seemed shocked – she screeched, but didn't forfeit the battle. I'll give her credit, she didn't give up.

"Pachirisu, use Tackle when you can get up!" she cried.

"Shinx, Tackle Pachirisu before it can get up!" I called, more confident now than ever in my Pokémon, who obeyed without question, ramming into Pachirisu with all the strength in her little blue-and-black body. I was, again, surprised by her strength, though I didn't let it show. Pachirisu got up this time, though, and rammed into Shinx with a Tackle attack. Shinx landed on her feet and, without my even having to tell her what to do, Tackled Pachirisu again. That was it for the little squirrel-like Pokémon – Pachirisu was down and out for the count. Minami recalled Pachirisu with promises of special food later, then glared at me.

"You've been training yours, haven't you?" she huffed, putting the PokeBall away.

"Actually, my dad would be the one responsible for that," Kinji said, and I was startled to find his hand on my shoulder and his strength behind me. "He tries to train the Pokémon he's got for new Trainers to make it a little easier on them, and he hadn't gotten to train Pachirisu as much as the others, which would explain Pachirisu's disadvantage in that battle. If I were you, Minami, I'd work on training Pachirisu as much as possible before trying a battle with Akai here. She's…well, to say she's determined would be an understatement."

"What, are you two dating or something?" Minami asked, tone disgusted as could be. "Ugh, if your dad's Professor Oak I think I might just puke."

"He is," Kinji said. "Now, if I remember correctly, the deal was that you'd leave if Akai won. She won the battle, so scram."

Kinji and I watched as Minami scampered away, clutching her Pachirisu's PokeBall close to her chest as she ran. Once she was gone, I sat down on the picnic blanket again to finish my lunch.


End file.
